


Punch Drunk

by DrDoots



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, College AU, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2020-05-16 07:38:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19313635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrDoots/pseuds/DrDoots
Summary: Adrien and Nino ask Marinette to punch Adrien while drunk. Adrien wakes up and doesn't remember. Shenanigans ensue.





	1. Chapter 1

“Girl, come on, we both know you really want to go to Alix's party. Don't worry about me and  _ goooo _ .”

 

“I know, but it doesn't stop me from feeling weird about showing up on my own.”

 

“Girl! Please, me and you always end up scattered at her parties anyway. The scattering is just happening sooner this time. That's all.”

 

“Are you sure you'll be fine here on your own? What about Nino? He's going to be there.”

 

“Mari. Bughead. I love you and your concern for me is appreciated, but Nino will be fine and I'm going to be barricaded in my room all night writing this article. You wouldn't be seeing me at all if you stayed. So, you can either not see me here at home and do nothing in your room. Or! You can not see me at Alix's and get drunk with our friends.”

 

“Ok ok! I see your point. I'm going, I'm going!”

 

“Besides….I think a certain golden haired sunshine boy will be in attendance tonight.”  _ wink _ .

 

Marinette froze almost imperceptibly but Alya has been watching her best friend for years now and knew what to look for.

 

“Oh, is Adrien back from Tokyo then?” Marinette said almost too casually. That must be why Alya said Nino would be fine. The two of them always seemed to turn up a bit whenever Adrien came back from a long stint of out of the country modelling for his father's fashion empire.

 

_ Mhmmmmm _ “Yes. Yes he is. Nino told me he came back a few days ago when I told him I wasn't going to the party tonight.”

 

Alya had that twinkle in her eye whenever she thought she was onto something. Why Alya was convinced there was  _ something  _ to be onto whenever she talked to Marinette about Adrien was something Marinette didn't think she would ever understand. Sure, he was handsome...no. He was  _ Gorgeous _ . She could admit that much, but she was fairly certain that he was way too much for her to handle. Way too much for her to even consider him as anything more than Alya's sort of boyfriend's best friend. Adrien was always in and out of the tabloids for his numerous flings or for being, in general, a drunk disaster. 

 

Marinette could never reconcile the two personas of the so called “golden haired sunshine boy.” Whenever he was in town he would tag along with Nino to his classes and when he wanted to visit Alya. And by extension, herself. He was a shameless flirt but he never crossed the line with her. Well, the puns were terrible and were very near the line of her tolerance but he always thought he was so funny when he would make a particularly bad one that it always seemed to earn him some forgiveness. Marinette knew she couldn't trust everything she read online about him but the boy himself would regale them with some of his exploits while he was off modeling. And Marinette had seen a good bit of the broken hearts he left in his wake firsthand a few times. There was a good handful of them at their school. No, he was too much trouble.

 

\-------------------------------------

 

The party seems to have already started by the time Marinette gets to Alix's as she is greeted by very boisterous, and shot fueled, yelling. 

 

“EYYYYYYY IT'S BUGHEAD!!”

 

“Ha ha, hey Kim. Where's Alix?”

 

“She's out back with Max and Juleka and Rose. Hey! You should come take a shot with us!!”

 

Us, turned out to be Nino and the sunshine boy himself, Adrien. It took Marinette a minute to respond because her brain was having a hard time processing what she was seeing. When Kim yelled at her entrance, Adrien had turned one of his blinding smiles on her. Right as she was recovering from the smile she noticed what he was wearing and really short circuited. He was wearing a tight black t shirt that did so many favors to his toned body, and loose grey sweats that weren't so loose that you couldn't see his absolutely astounding ass.  _ Aw jeez. _

 

“Yes. I will definitely take that shot with you.”

 

_ She was really going to need it if she wanted to function like a normal person around….. everyone. _

 

Two shots and one slightly too strong drink later and Adrien makes his way to her side of the table to talk to her. Nino came over to ask her about Alya and then bounded off to talk to Ivan.

 

_ “ _ Well, helloooo my lady! It's been a while.”

 

That nickname always made Marinette snort. 

 

“Hey yourself, Fabio.”

 

“Meowch, Mari. And to think I thought you would miss me!”

 

Marinette laughed a little too loud but Adrien already seemed tipsy enough not to notice.

 

“Oh please! You seemed like you were having a….time in Tokyo.”

 

Adrien had the nerve to look amused.

 

“You follow me on Twitter I see.”

 

Was he too close? She was starting to feel that second shot but Mari recovered quickly.

 

“Of course I do. Watching you be a mess is always entertaining. I can't imagine your dad was pleased with your shenanigans at that club.”

 

Adrien looked at her appreciatively for a second before putting his hand to his broad chest in mock offense.

 

“That girl was falling! What kind of gentleman would I be if I let her fall!”

 

Marinette snorted again.

 

“Uh huh. And she just happened to fall ass first into your face?”

 

“Listen.”

 

But there was nothing to listen to because Adrien just winked at her and shot her some finger guns and ran off to where Nino was talking to Ivan and Mylene. Marinette just shook her head and chuckled to herself.

 

_ Ohhhhh yeah. He is  _ _ way _ _ too much trouble. _

 

_ \---------------------------------- _

 

“So are you done flirting with Mari now or…?”

 

Adrien is shocked! Shocked by the implication! Sure, she looked distractingly pretty in that pink knit sweater and grey leggings. And sure, he had been staring at her from the moment she walked in the house. AND SURE! He almost couldn't follow the conversation he had with her because her eyes were just  _ too _ blue! But he wasn't flirting with her. Ok, maybe he was, but that wasn't all he was doing. Mari is his friend! He met her about a year ago in this very house. Nino had started hanging out with Nath during one of Adrien's many weeks long modelling gigs and when he came back nino insisted he come to one of these and meet all these great new people. Adrien was skeptical at first. He never really had many friends growing up and once he found Nino he thought he was just fine the way things were. But everyone he met here made him feel like he really belonged. No one cared that he had a famous father and was famous himself for modelling. In fact, his being a model was frequently used as ammo to make fun of him. And he made fun of them as much as they got him. Everything here felt real. He was comfortable here. They welcomed him with open arms and never looked back. Especially Marinette. She was so kind and thoughtful and bright and made sure he never felt left out. Those first few times he hung out with this crowd Marinette was always there, bringing him into conversations with everyone when he was too awkward to insert himself. Despite all of that he doesn't know her nearly as well as he'd like to. He only sees her when he can make it to one of these parties or when he follows Nino around school. 

 

“Excuse you, I was just saying hello to a friend I haven't seen in 6 weeks!”

 

“Alright dude. If you say so. Speaking of friends you haven't seen in 6 weeks, this friend needs another Welcome Home Adrien shot!”

 

“YESSSS.”

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Marinette went back to kitchen in search of another drink and some more of her friends to hang out with. Everyone that was going to show up to the party had gotten there in the last hour or so and the party was in full swing now. She almost wished Chloe was here. A pain in the ass she might be but the girl knew how to have a good time and Marinette was getting tipsy enough that getting Chloe Wasted™ seemed like an excellent idea.  _ Eh, fuck it _ . She could manage Marinette Wasted™ just fine on her own. She made herself another slightly too strong drink ( _ no pain no gain YEET. Oh yeah she was doing just fine on her own _ ) and headed to the living room where her art buddies Nathaneal and Marc were shouting for her. Marc had been yelling for the past 30 minutes about how photography was dead and needed another art inclined mind to yell at. 

 

Marc finally winded down on his photography rant and Marinette continued to drink and mingle about the party. The best thing about parties at Alix's place was that it was always the same group of friends. Some she had known since all the way back in college and lycee and others she met at University or through her other friends. Over the years they had all found each other and formed one of those groups of friends that you can tell will last forever. Even if there was rarely someone new to the group you knew you were going to have a blast. And if your friends did introduce someone new, you could pretty much trust that they would be just as great as the friends you already had. It's part of why Alya wasn't bothered with missing one of these parties. You always knew there would be more with the same people and it would be just as much fun. Though Marinette had to admit that she didn't think she could have the same self discipline to stay in if she had too much work to do for school. What can she say? Alix parties were always a wild time. It helped that her grandfather had left her this spacious house when he died too. It had a big kitchen that connected to a good size breakfast nook that was then connected to a cozy living room. With Max as one of her roommates the living room had a great  gaming set up that doubled as great entertainment for parties. And there was a big back yard that was great for hide and seek. They may all be in their 20s now but they were all in agreement that they were never too old for hide and seek in the middle of the night. Especially when they were all a little soused. 

 

It started to sound like the party was moving out to the backyard now actually. Marinette was tipsy so she couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a shouted challenge by Kim over the music that Alix couldn't stay taped to The Ant Tree longer than he could. Everyone was moving to the back doors so it was safe to assume that Alix had accepted the challenge. Marinette was going to need another drink if she was going to have to watch the two Meatheads tape themselves to the only tree in the backyard that was inexplicably covered in millions of ants. It had become A Thing to tape people to The Ant Tree now and then so this wasn't completely off brand for an Alix party. But Alix and Kim tended to go overboard with the dares and challenges once they had enough to drink and it was not something that Drunk Marinette enjoyed watching. She started to make her way back to the kitchen for some more booze.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Adrien was really drunk today. Not really that unusual considering his track record but still. He didn't plan on getting this kind of drunk at  _ this _ party. This was the kind of drunk he usually reserved for when he was out of the country and with his model friends at loud clubs. He always got into trouble when he got this kind of drunk but that was part of the fun. Since he was here with Nino he had hope that his best friend would be a good influence on him despite his reckless inebriation. Nino was drinking too but he always had a better grasp at what his limitations were when drinking than Adrien ever did. Never got so drunk he was completely out of control. Just enough to have a good time. And they were having a great time tonight! Adrien had been out of town for a while for work so the two Bros were having their own little celebration. If it weren't for his recent absence, Adrien is sure Nino would be a little bummed that his crush maybe girlfriend Alya wasn't here. Adrien was bummed about that at first too but then he saw that Marinette came on her own anyway. They were always together so he just assumed that if Alya wasn't here Marinette wouldn't be either. He was surprised at how much seeing her here, when he thought she wouldn't be, cheered him up. That was confusing but he was already a few drinks in at that point so he didn't dwell on it. That was several hours ago.  _ Huh. Where was Mari? He hadn't seen her in a while. Was it 5 drinks ago? 6? Who's keeping count. Oh! There she is! Yay!! She's so cute and sweet and wouldn't hurt a fly! _ Hey, that gives Very Drunk Adrien an idea.

 

"Nino. My guy. My best bud. I'm going to get Mari to punch me in the face." 

 

Nino, who is a Good Friend and Good Influence on his recklessly inebriated friend, responds.

 

d:D "YES BRO. LETS."

 

\----------------------------------

 

Unbeknownst to Adrien and Nino (and most everyone), Marinette has been training in one martial or another since she was a kid. She doesn't hide it but she doesn't parade that information either.

Mari is drunk but she could be drunker. She definitely needs more booze in her face before she goes outside. She tries to go get another drink but gets waylaid by 2 very drunk and very excited dorks. Wait. She knows these dorks. The blonde is VERY cute but he is Trouble and she is  _ not  _ interested in him NOPE. Ugh. They're blocking her way to the drinks. Damn it. She's about to tell them to move when the cute o- _ Adrien _ !  _ His name is Adrien, get it together Marinette! _ Starts talking. Ok he's yelling but whatever.

 

"MARI PUNCH ME IN THE FACE!"

 

_ Uhhhhhhhhhh...what? _

 

Nino's ever present hat is askew from his excitement. It's cute. No wonder Alya likes him so much.

 

d:D "YEAH. HIT HIM! IT'LL BE GREAT." 

 

Marinette is way too buzzed for this shit and also not nearly buzzed enough.

 

".....I don't think I should?" 

 

In her head, she vaguely remembers she could knock Adrien’s sunshine ass out and she probably shouldn't? Do that?

But the blonde is yelling again. 

 

"COME ON PRINCESS. YOU CAN DO IT. JUST PUNCH ME IN THE FACE." 

 

Nino's eyes are just little too bright and alight with mischief. But she doesn't get a chance to think about that too hard.

 

d:D "YES. DOITDOITDOIT!"

 

"Ugh. Fine." She just really wants to get another drink.

 

"YES!"

 

d:D "YESSS!"

 

Mari is thinking very hard through the buzz she still has,  _ don't lay him out don't lay him out _ , and then pops him in the jaw and proceeds to pat herself on the back for restraining herself.  _ Good one! You didn't ruin his beautiful face! Damn it, no! Stop being distracted by his stupid gorgeous face!! SHIT! _

 

But Adrien and Nino aren't satisfied and Adrien starts drunk yelling again.

 

“COME ON! I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! I WANT YOU TO HIT ME FOR REAL!"

 

d:D "YEAH NETTE. HIT HIM FOR REAL! KNOCK HIM OUT!"

 

Mari just really wanted to get another drink. It's been like 15 minutes since she had one!

 

"You really don't want me to hit you for real."

 

"YES I DO! YOU CAN DO IT PRINCESS!"

 

d:D "YEAH! PUNCH HIM!"

 

Ugh, Mari just really wanted more booze. Wait, did Adrien just call her  _ princess _ ?  _ Twice?? _

 

"I just want to get another drink. I'm serious, you don't want me to hit you for real!"

 

"DO IT!"

 

d:D "DO IT!!"

 

"NO!"

 

And then Adrien and Nino (d:D) yelled at the same time.

 

**“DO IT!!!"**

 

And Marinette snaps.

And proceeds to land a full strength punch to Adrien's (perfect) jaw and lays his ass completely out.

Drunk Marinette realizes her path to the booze is finally clear and steps over Adrien’s prone form, though her memory of how he ended up like that is already blurry. But it doesn't matter anymore because  _ YES BOOZE FINALLY _ .

 

Meanwhile, Nino is Boggled, and as any Good Friend would be, DELIGHTED. And a little turned on but he can't focus on that right now. For now, he has to help his...bleeding? d:D Oh shit! His bleeding best friend recover from getting knocked out by the sweetest girl (who clearly has some secrets) either of them know.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Marinette got a ride and made it home in the wee hours of the morning. She had had a great time but was finally ready to lay down and sleep the sleep of the perfectly drunk, and blissfully unaware of the bad morning a certain blonde haired model was about to have because of her.

 

\-----------------------------

 

Nino was one of those annoying people that rarely have hangovers even if they did drink a lot. Adrien, was not. But even so, Adrien had had enough hangovers to get used to them. He is a professional drunk after all. But this hangover felt different. His stomach felt a little wobbly and he was lightheaded but he also had one of the worst headaches he had ever had and he was pretty sure that wasn't something he usually experienced. He took a minute to come to terms with still being alive and very slowly, his head throbbed with every movement, made his way to the kitchen where he hoped he'd find some medicine. 

 

Nino was already up and had coffee and meds set out for him. 

 

“Nino, you are a good friend, and getting you to move in with me was the best idea I've ever had.”

 

Adrien had used the excuse of needing someone to watch his place while he was out of the country to get his best friend to move in with him. But the real reason was because he didn't want to be alone anymore. He purposely chose this place because it was close to Nino's school. Nino protested at first saying it was too expensive but Adrien convinced him that he could live with him and his rent would be watching the large apartment for him while he was working. Eventually, they compromised on a heavily discounted rent and house sitting situation that worked out wonderfully for the two friends. Nino got to live in a fancy apartment that was close to his school and Adrien had someone to come home to. 

 

“You know I always got your back bro! Hey, does your face need more ice? Doesn't look like it's swelling but it probably still hurts like hell, huh?”

 

Nino was making a Herculean effort not to burst into laughter at the thought of what happened last night but it was almost beyond him. He definitely had to file watching his best friend get laid out by a walking cupcake that was a nearly a foot shorter than him and half his weight under Best Memories Ever.

 

“My face? What's wrong with my face?!”

 

_ YES. _ Nino was hoping Adrien didn't remember what happened. That would make everything so much more entertaining. Adrien, however, was not entertained. Hearing that his face might be swelling sent him into a mini bout of panic. He ran to the nearest mirror and finally some things started to click into place, from experience at least. He still didn't remember anything.

 

“Shit! Did someone hit me?!” He inspected his hands to see if there was any evidence of a fight he may have been involved in. The headache and pain in his face started to make sense now. He'd been in his fair share of drunken brawls. Some he started, some he got caught up in. But he was usually good enough to avoid getting hit in the face. His hands showed no signs of a recent fight so that meant that someone had sucker punched him. Which meant he was doing something fun (stupid). But then he remembered whose party he was at and was a little horrified at the idea of hitting on someone he wasn't supposed to. Those were his friends! The first friends he'd ever had aside from Nino. He'd hate himself if he did anything to hurt any of them.

 

Nino saw him spiralling and helped him out a bit.

 

“Yeah dude. Marinette got you good. You even blacked out for a second.”

 

_ Marinette?! _ Pieces of it started coming to him finally. He remembered realizing how drunk he was. He remembered looking for Marinette and finding her. Then he remembered her yelling but not what she was saying. And then he was on the floor. Next thing was Nino laughing and his face being really cold.

 

“Holy shit! Marinette punched me! For real! Why would she do that???”

 

It was Christmas come early for Nino, a Good Friend.

 

“Dude, she one hit KO'd you! It was hot!”

 

_ Oh God. MARINETTE hit me!  _ While he was glad he didn't get punched because he was hitting on someone's partner, learning that it was Marinette was somehow worse. He'd always been so careful around her. He couldn't help but flirt with her sometimes but he always, always tried not to cross a line with her. She was too special to him.

 

“Well! Time for me to be hitting the ol dusty trail! I got a hot date!”

 

This snapped Adrien out of his reverie.

 

“Are you and Alya officially dating now?”

 

Nino's face fell just a fraction but his smile snapped back into place so fast Adrien thought he may have imagined the momentary distress.

 

“Ah no. Not exactly. She's still saying she doesn't want to “tie me down”, or something, like she didn't have me wrapped around her finger from the moment I saw her.”

 

Adrien remembered the first time Nino tried to explain his relationship with the beautiful red head and he had to admit he was still a little confused. If he remembered right, Alya told Nino that school and her pursuit of a career in journalism would always come first and that Nino deserved someone that would be able to put him first. But Nino was a goner from the beginning and persistent and so this new Kind Of Dating situation came to be. They obviously loved each other so he didn't understand why Alya didn't just throw in the towel and call themselves what they were. He said as much to Nino who smiled brighter and made his way to the door. 

 

“She’ll come around. I'm irresistible, my dude!” And then Nino was gone with another flash of his smile and finger guns.

 

Adrien just chuckled and went about medicating and caffeinating himself. It was quiet and while his face and head throbbed he was starting to adjust to it. He decided that what he really needed was a shower and a nap. The shower taken care of, he made his way to his king size bed and flopped onto it. He was relaxed and about to drift off when he remembered something. 

 

“SHIT! I forgot to ask Nino what happened with Marinette!”

 

\------------------------------

 

After a nap or five, Adrien sat up in bed scrolling through various social media apps and doing his best to try and remember what happened before Marinette got angry enough to hit him. He realized he was obsessing after the 13th time he found himself scrolling through Marinette's Twitter. She didn't post much and most of it was about fashion. There was only one tweet from the night of the party and she was just tagged in it. It was a tweet from Marc about photography being dead that didn't help him to understand anything that might have happened. 

 

The more he thought about it, the more upset he got. Adrien knew he couldn't remember much but he was  _ certain  _ he hadn't done anything to make Mari mad. He was positive he didn't touch her and while he may have said something stupid, it wouldn't have been bad enough to warrant her knocking him out. That led him down another line questions.  _ Where the hell had Mari learned to punch like that???  _ That wasn't a lucky punch. She knew what she was doing. Adrien had trained in a few martial arts growing up. Fencing, some karate and kickboxing. Even some capoeira for a couple years. Once he solved the mystery of The Punch he was going to get to the bottom of this new mystery. Coming to a few decisions, Adrien resolved to lay low for a few days and then confront Mari. Normally, he would accompany Nino to his classes but he needed one more day to prepare himself. He'd find out why Marinette had hit him and why she was able to throw a punch. 

 

\------------------------------

 

Adrien was back to following Nino around to his classes and lunch with the girls. He had taken his extra day to prepare himself but now that he was here, sitting next to Marinette, he couldn't help but feel it was too soon after all.

 

Adrien had seemed a little too casual during lunch. He was smiling and laughing and making conversation but something about it seemed stiff. Like he was nervous. Marinette couldn't figure what could possibly be making him nervous so she just decided that she was thinking too much into it. Nino, however, knew exactly what Adrien was nervous about and thought it was hilarious. Time for him to make Adrien even more uncomfortable. You know, like a Good Friend. 

 

“WELL. Alya, my lady type, the apple of my eye! I think it is time for us to go on a walk and make out some!”

 

Alya, who was always down to make out with this cute dork and always down to leave Marinette alone with Adrien, responded.

 

“Eh, maybe.”

 

“Dude!!”

 

Alya cackled.  _ Man, it was just too easy. _

 

“GOT HIM! I'm kidding, yes, I would love to make out with your face. Bye, Bughead!”

 

Marinette groaned and Alya winked and dragged a widely grinning Nino off to some private corner of campus. Marinette wasn't worried about it. She had work to do in the library anyway. She turned to ask Adrien if he wanted to walk with her there but he was staring off after Nino and Alya. She reached out to get his attention and when she touched his shoulder he  _ flinched. Huh. Well, that's...weird. _

 

Adrien turned wide green eyes on her quite like a startled deer.  _ Oh no, that's just adorable. _

 

“Uhhh. Adrien? You ok? I can't hang out right now but you want to walk with me to the library? I've got some stuff to do for a paper.”

 

_ Am I ok. Am I ok?! Y-y-you PUNCHED ME! For no reason!  _ Adrien meant to say all of this but all that came out was,

 

“Buh.”

 

Marinette giggled and Adrien felt like he had missed the last step going down some stairs.

 

He then had a very furious internal debate with himself.  _ Ugh, c'mon man just talk to her! You won't find out anything if you don't at least talk to her. It's Mari! Walking cinnamon roll who makes delicious cinnamon rolls! A very pretty friend who hits like a truck! Wait, no. Anyway, just ask her. What's the worst that could happen? It's not like she's going to hit you again…..right?  _

 

“Uh, yeah. Sorry, yes I'll walk with you, my l-lady.”

 

Marinette didn't know what was causing this new bout of awkwardness but she hoped that whatever it was would stick around. Adrien was way too cute like this. It was cute at first anyway. Marinette gave up trying to get Adrien to talk after 5 minutes of failed attempts. The rest of the walk was made in tense silence and when the library came into view Marinette felt a rush of intense relief.

 

“Ok, well this was weird. I'll talk to you later Adrien.”

 

Adrien realized he hadn't said a single word to her for that entire walk. It would have been the perfect time ask what the hell happened at the party! What was he so afraid of?  _ Getting knocked out again maybe? AH FUCK IT! _

 

“WHYDIDYOUPUNCHME?!”

 

Marinette's big blue eyes got even bigger at this outburst.

 

“What? Were those words?”

 

Adrien took a deep breath and visibly steeled himself.

 

“I said, why did you punch me? At Alix's party.”

 

Her eyes were guileless and completely lacked any kind of recognition to what he was saying.  _ No way. She didn't forget did she? Well, he wasn't one to talk.  _ Adrien continued. Might as well get this over with.

 

“You punched me. RIGHT IN THE FACE. And I want to know why.”

 

It took Marinette a full 5 seconds before she remembered what he was talking about. It all came back to her in a rush and she found herself laughing. Adrien didn't seem as amused as she was by the event which was confusing considering he was the genius behind the scheme.

 

“Marinette! I can't believe you! Why are you laughing?! You hit me  _ hard.  _ I want to know what made you do that to me. And by the way, where did you learn to hit like that?”

 

Marinette really couldn't help but keep laughing. She had never seen Adrien like this before. Even when they first met and he seemed a little awkward at first. She thought it was cute. But it wasn't anywhere near as cute as the face he made when her laughter doubled after his second outburst. He practically _bristled._ It was almost as though his hair was standing on end in indignation kind of like an angry cat. She would swear that if he had a tail it would be standing straight up. _Oh no. He's_ _really_ _cute._ She tried to stop laughing. She really did, but her body wasn't listening to her. She kept replaying the scene in her head and the fact that he clearly didn't remember anything made it all ten times funnier. And it didn't help when he started gaping and his face turned completely red. That just made it worse. Marinette tried to think of boring unfunny things and swallowed as much laughter as she could.

 

“You really, you really don't remember do you?”

 

Adrien started to look a little less indignant and more self conscious. His hand went to the back of his head in a gesture that Marinette didn't have the privilege of seeing often.  _ Oh man, this was fun!  _ Marinette knew for sure that she wanted to tease him but she didn't think she wanted him to keep thinking that she had sucker punched him. So Marinette put him out of some of his misery with tears of laughter still in her eyes.

 

“Adrien, you asked, no you  _ demanded,  _ that I punch you in the face, you silly cat!”

 

Adrien was too taken aback by this information to notice the new nickname. He looked around as though he was hoping the answer to all of this would just appear before he was able to say anything.

 

“....I did what?”

 

Marinette started laughing again. This was all just too much.  _ Oh God, is this why he's been so weird today?? _

 

“Adrien, have you been so weird today because you thought I hit you for no reason??”

 

Adrien was desperately trying to remember anything and it just wasn't happening. 

 

“So wait. Hold on. You're saying... you're saying I  _ asked  _ you to hit me?”

 

Marinette was becoming more animated with each word she said.

 

“Yes, you walnut! You and Nino practically ambushed me and wouldn't let me go until I did. I even tried to get away with tapping you lightly but noooooo. That wasn't good enough for world famous model Adrien Agreste.”

 

Adrien tried to convince himself that this was ridiculous but he knew deep down that this was exactly the kind of shit he got into.

 

“Well that…actually yeah. That sounds like something I would do.”

 

Marinette was still poorly suppressing laughter.

 

“So what? You've just spent the past 3 days thinking I knocked you out just because I could??”

 

His hand went to the back of his head again as a furious blush covered his face. 

 

“Uhhh, yeah. Kind of?”

 

_ Ah crap.  _ All this blushing was going to be bad for Marinette's heart.

 

“Adrien! Are you serious?!”

 

Adrien finally seemed to relax a little and started grinning.

 

“What else was I supposed to think? All I remember is your face and then THE CEILING. Then my next memory is a different room with Nino smacking ice to my face. Mari, I was bleeding!”

 

: D

 

“Oh shit! I made you bleed?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry but I did warn you that you didn't want me to hit you for real. But you insisted.”

 

“Well I wouldn't have if I had known you hit like the fucking juggernaut!”

 

This set off another peal laughter from Marinette but this time she was joined by Adrien. They recovered after a few minutes and Adrien remembered that there was still one more question he needed an answer for.

 

“Hey, you didn't tell me where you learned to hit like that.”

 

Marinette, who was enjoying having the upper hand for once, wasn't ready to let it go just yet.

 

“Yes.”

 

She always felt like it was just her reacting to Adrien and never the other way around. She was going to have fun with this while she could.

 

“WELP. Look at the time, I better be going SEEYOULATERKITTYBYE.”

 

Marinette had disappeared into the library before Adrien could say anything to stop her. He wouldn't let her get away that easy. He was going to figure out why she seemed to know how throw a punch. And why she was able to throw one so _hard_ too. For now, all he could do was go back home and regroup. He'd get her to talk eventually. _Wait a second. Did she call me Kitty?????_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to fix some of the formatting this time. Sorry! Adrien's text are in () and Alya's are in <>  
> Thanks for the comments and kudos! Hope you like this!

Adrien was fairly sure he had a plan. He went straight home after leaving Marinette at the library and had been sitting brainstorming possible ideas. He went through a few wildly complicated ones before deciding on one that was only a little complicated. He heard the front door open.  _Finally!_ He bolted to meet Nino.

"Hey Nino! I need Alya's number."

Nino froze and dropped the carton of juice he had gotten from the fridge. Adrien jumped and yelled,

"Bro, you alright?"

Nino's face was ashen and continued to stare at Adrien like he was a ghost. After several more seconds of shocked silence on both ends, Nino seemed to come back to himself enough to say something in an ominous voice.

"I knew this day would come."

Adrien resigned himself to being confused all day. It just be like that sometimes.

"Uh. What?"

Nino shut the fridge and took a deep breath. It seemed like he was steeling himself for...something. Adrien waited. Nino took a resolute step towards him with a determined gleam in his eye.

"You can't have her man. You're my best bro but I can't let you have her!"

Adrien blinked. And despite his earlier resignation something finally clicked.

"Whoa hold on Nino! I think you got the wr-"

"No! You can meet me in the pit dude! I'm not giving her up without a fight!"

Nino squared up and Adrien no longer knew how to react to this situation.

"NINO WAIT! It's not what you-"

Nino's face crumbled and he collapsed and latched onto Adrien's leg.

"Bro please! I lo-oooOVE TURTLES! And really like Alya please don't take her from me!"

Nino continued to blubber and Adrien couldn't help but be amused by his love struck best friend.  _Aw, he has it so bad!_

"Bro, relax. I just want her number so I can talk to her about Marinette."

One second there was a constant stream of blubbering about how Adrien could never understand and appreciate Alya the way he could and how he couldn't live without her and the next there was complete silence.

"Marinette?"

Adrien smiled.

"Yeah man."

Nino blinked and jumped up so quickly that Adrien had to take a step back. And then Nino was beaming like he wasn't just a complete mess on the floor mere seconds before.

"THAT'S GREAT!"

He pulled out his phone and sent Adrien Alya's contact info. Then he went to clean the mess of juice off the floor. Adrien went to help him.

"Soooooo...you love Alya huh??"

Nino continued to clean but Adrien saw the blush that rapidly spread across his best friends face.

_Awwwwww!!!_

"Awwwwww!"

"Dude!"

They both started laughing and left the kitchen. Adrien followed Nino to his room and flopped on the bed. 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Nino let out an explosive breath and collapsed in a chair.

"Oh my god YES."

Adrien nearly fell off the bed from laughing.

"Why didn't you say anything before? You know you can talk to me bro."

Nino shrugged.

"I don't know why I didn't say anything. I was embarrassed? But now that it's out I feel like going to her house right now and telling her." Nino let out a nervous giggle and rubbed his hands over his face setting his glasses askew.

Adrien nodded and continued to listen.

"I just like...love her so much. I want to be with her. I don't care if she's running all over the world chasing stories. I'd go with her anywhere."

Adrien's heart warmed.

"Have you told her that?"

Nino grimaced and said in a quiet voice,

"I didn't want to freak her out."

"Well, you are kind of a freak."

Nino let out a long groan and melted out of his chair.

"No! C'mon Nino, I'm just kidding. Tell her how you feel. I think it's going to go better than you think." He'd seen the way Alya looked at him and it was a lot like the way Nino looked at her. 

Nino's hat had covered his face while he slid to the floor and he moved it aside to peer at Adrien. They smiled at each other.

"Thanks Adrien. But enough about my lady troubles. Why do you want to ask Alya about Marinette hmmmm??" He said this with a completely unnecessary eyebrow waggle. Adrien blushed and his hand crept to the back of his head.

"It's not like that. She's just a friend. I'm just going to ask Alya what her schedule is and then go to her classes with her instead tomorrow. That's all."

Nino was still on the floor.

"That's all, huh?"

They stared at each other.

"This is about The Punch isn't it."

Adrien left the room. Nino laughed to himself and couldn't help wondering that he wasn't the only one that had it bad. 

 

\--------------------

 

(Alya it's Adrien. This is going to sound weird but can you tell what Maris class schedule is???)

<bugheadsched.jpeg>

(I swear it's not for weird reasons)

(Oh)

(Uh thanks?)

<What's the plan? What are we doing?>

(We???)

<Yes. There's no way you can pull off w/e ur planning without me>

<SO GIVE ME THE DEETS SUNSHINE>

Adrien suddenly understood why Nino sometimes looked scared when talking about Alya. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Ah whatever! Might as well go all in.

(Maris holding out on me and I kinda)

(Planned to sit in on all of her classes with her?)

<and annoy her until she tells you what you wanna kno>

(yep. That's about the size of it.,)

<Not the worst plan but it could be better>

<you should come pick her up and rice her to school so she can't escape>

<cuz she will try to escape>

<drive even>

<and bring her coffee>

<Gotta bribe her>

<there's a place not far from where we live that she loves>

<triple tall white mocha>

<I'm gonna get rid of all the coffee in the house so she HAS to accept ur offer>

Adrien's head was spinning.

(What! You don't have to do that!)

<TOO LATE>

Alya sent him a video of her very enthusiastically dumping all the coffee down the sink with a wide grin and a thumbs up.

_Oh my God, she's insane...perfect for Nino._

(WELL GUESS I HAVE NO CHOICE NOW)

<YEP SUCH A SHAME>

<COULDN'T BE HELPED>

Another video of raucous coffee disposal.

(AW GEEZ. GUESS NOT.)

They went back and forth for a few minutes and Alya gave Adrien all the addresses for the cafe and their apartment. With a solid plan in place Adrien felt very confident that he'd finally get some answers from this elusive bug.

 

\-------------------------

 

“Good morning, princess!”

Marinette was taken aback.  _Why is Adrien here? What's happening? Am I still asleep?_ Marinette didn't have any coffee, they had run out, so she wasn't functioning at 100% just yet.

“Huh? Wha-? Huh?”

Adrien smiled at her fondly and then seemed confused and schooled his face back to the usual model smile he used when he was trying to hide something. Marinette, still dead on her feet, forgot about this almost as soon as she noticed it.

“I'm going to class with you today! I know. You're just as excited as I am.” He winked. “So let's go! Your first class starts at 9 right? Your chariot awaits.” He gestured broadly to the very expensive looking red car behind him with a look that implored her to get in.

Marinette finally started processing everything that was happening and made an effort to voice her objections.

“...Coffee?”

_Nailed it._

Adrien's eyes lit up in a way that was very interesting to Marinette even when she was half asleep.

“Yep! Picked up some from that cafe you like with all the cats.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in shock at this news and Adrien blushed deeply, his hand going to the back of his head.

“Um, I uh...Alya told me about it.”

Marinette nodded ruefully at this news. Alya would be more than happy to pass on this information to Adrien.

“I'm guessing she told you my usual order too then?”

Adrien brightened and seemed to relax.

“Yep! Triple tall white mocha, right?”

Marinette was already moving towards the car before Adrien had finished speaking. 

Adrien was surprised by her sudden movement but made it to the car just a step before her and opened the door.  _Such a gentleman!_

There were two coffees sitting in the cupholders but Marinette knew which was hers by the smell. She had already taken 2 generous sips by the time Adrien made it back inside the car.

Marinette let out a groan of pleasure as the caffeine started to course through her. She finally started to feel like a human again and turned a dreamy gaze on Adrien. His eyes were wide, with a slight blush creeping up his neck, and looked as though he'd been watching since he got in the car. She continued to watch him, curious about the look on his face, when he seemed to realize what he was doing. He gave himself a shake and cleared his throat.

“Is...is the coffee good?”

Marinette hummed in appreciation and took another long pull of her drink. Adrien was watching her as closely as he could out of the corner of his eye.

“It's perfect. Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver, really! We ran out of coffee this morning.”

Adrien did his best to look surprised and not think about videos of a certain bespectacled redhead happily tossing coffee down the drain.

“Well, great! Now we should probably get going so we aren't late.”

Between the car suddenly starting and the caffeine now running through her Marinette's brain finally starting moving at its usual pace.

“Hey hold on! What are you doing here taking me to school? What's happening?? Why aren't you with Nino?”

Adrien got an absolutely devilish grin on his face and continued to drive away from Marinette's apartment.

“But Mari! I wanted to tag along with you today.”

He glanced at her and winked. Again.  _Suspicious..._

Marinette did some mental acrobatics trying to figure what could possibly have made Adrien Agreste want to shadow her at school. She nearly smacked herself in the head when she figured it out. _Of course! Man, that was just yesterday. Need. More. Coffee._ Marinette drank some more before confronting Adrien about his motivations for today.

“Mmmhmmmm. So today wouldn't have anything to do with...hmmm I don't know. Maybe figuring out how I knocked you out so efficiently??”

Marinette had hoped to catch him on the wrong foot but was disappointed to see that Adrien had recovered most of his rakish charm since yesterday. _I guess I'll have to try harder._ Adrien affected a look of complete shock.

“You wound me, Princess! Do I need an ulterior motive to hang out with you?”

This comment reminded Marinette of something.

“Why did you start calling me Princess?”

_Another blush! I wasn't expecting that reaction but I'll take it!_  

Adrien was very caught off guard by this question. When had he started calling her that? Out loud anyway. He realized very quickly that he had always thought of her that way. _I can't just tell her that! She already thinks you're weird enough as it is!_

“Um, I don't know. It just seemed right, I guess? I'll stop calling you that if you want me to. ”

It was Marinette's turn to blush.

“No! Um..no, it's alright. I kind of like it.”

She smiled shyly at Adrien, who could only spare her a glance as he was driving. Which was a blessing it turned out. If Adrien had to look at that smile head on, Marinette would have knocked him out a second time. _Oh right. I'm trying to figure that out today. Stop being distracted, Agreste!_

“But since you brought it up….how did you learn to punch like that?”

Adrien had a very smug and cheeky grin on his handsome face. _No! Don't get distracted, Dupain-Cheng!_ Marinette was going to tease Adrien today. She was! He'd gotten a head start on her by showing up first thing in the morning but Marinette was determined to turn the tables on him. They were almost to her school now and she was sure she could time this right. 

“Oh, it's a very interesting story!”

Marinette took a long, slow sip of her coffee. Adrien waited in anticipation but Marinette was taking her time savoring that sip of coffee. And while Adrien really appreciated the look on her face, he really wanted her to keep going.

“...go on?”

They were at a stop and Adrien had turned to look at Marinette. His eyes widened when they met hers. Adrien was certain he had never seen a more mischievous smile, and the mischief reached all the way to her glowing eyes.

“You should probably go.”

Adrien blinked. _OH SHIT, I'M DRIVING._

"C'mon, Mari! You left me hanging with that story and I got distracted."

Marinette giggled.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to at all. My mistake. Where was I?"

Marinette took her time trying to remember what she was going to say. She took another luxurious sip of coffee as she thought. Adrien was starting to fidget with impatience and anticipation. And Marinette continued to think and savor. 

"Hmmmm, where should I start? Oh! How about...no, that's not far enough back." Another thoughtful pause and coffee break. "Ok, I know! So my parents met-"

"MARINETTE!"

"OH GOSH LOOK AT THAT WE'RE ALREADY HERE!"

Adrien was startled to realize that they were indeed at the school. He was concentrating so hard on what Marinette was saying that he hadn't really been paying attention to the drive. Which was bad but hey. They got here in one piece. He found a parking spot and was determined to get something out of Marinette before she got out of the car. He turned to see Marinette downing the rest of her coffee. He waited for her to finish and geared up to ask, once again, where she learned to punch. Marinette saw the set of his jaw and the determined glint in his eye and made a calculated move to escape the car.

“Thank you so much for the coffee, Kitty!” And then she winked.

Adrien was speechless. That was the second time she had called him that. He almost thought he had imagined the first time but how could he now that she had said it again?? 

“You called me Kitty! Why? Hey, wait!”

With Adrien successfully derailed from his previous objective, Marinette had made a fast exit from the car and was already making her way to class. Adrien scrambled to catch up.

“Mari, slow down! Where did that even come from?”

Marinette got a fit of the giggles remembering just how cute he was yesterday. _Nope. Don't think about how cute he is!_

“You remind me of a cat, that's all. And you gave me a nickname so I'm just returning the favor.” She winked again.

Adrien tripped over his feet. He recovered with cat like grace and caught up with Marinette. She was having a lot of fun but it was time to go to class and send Adrien home.

“Thank you again for the ride and the coffee, Adrien. You don't need to walk me any further. I'll be fine here.”

_Uh oh. Why is Adrien grinning like that?_

“Mari, I told you. I'm going to class with you today.”

She didn't know what to say. Adrien had completely turned this game back in his favor and he was relishing it. It was Marinette’s turn to bristle. _Oh it is ON, Agreste!_

 “Uh, Adrien? Do you know what kind of courses I’m taking?”

“Yeah! Fashion, right?”

Marinette was getting tired of being brought up short by the gorgeous man. How can anyone look this put together and handsome so early in the morning? _ACK! He’s trouble, remember?? Please calm down. And more importantly, how does he know what classes your taking and when??_ Once she actually took a minute to think about it, it was so clear that Marinette had to scold herself for taking too long to realize it.

“Alya.” A blush! _Another point for me!_

_Damn, she’s smart._ Though he guessed it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. He didn’t notice when his hand crept to the back of his head.

“Uh...yeah. She told me a bit more than your coffee order.”

Marinette just nodded her head in a resigned way that made it seem like Alya made a habit of handing out her best friend’s schedule to anyone who asked.

“Of course she did. Anyway. You aren't….worried? About my classes?”

Adrien was nonplussed.

“Uh...no? Why would I be?”

Now Adrien was Very Concerned because his answer seemed to be the wrong one. With a predatory smile, Marinette answered him.

“No reason! Shall we go?”

_Ohohoho, I'm going to feed him to the wolves!!_

 

\-----------------------------

 

It didn't happen immediately. They walked into class and Marinette chose her usual seat, not quite the front but not in the back either. Adrien followed close behind and scooted so close to her their elbows were touching. She didn't think that was necessary but she didn't try to correct him either. Nobody really paid attention to the fact that an unfamiliar face came in with Marinette but it was early and they were all just getting ready for class. But pretty soon more and more heads started to turn their way. Adrien wasn't paying attention. He turned toward Marinette and got in her space, caging her in with his legs. 

"C'mon, Mari. Why don't you want to tell me? Don't tease me like this."

_Why is his face so close?_ With some consternation, Marinette felt the blush creeping up her face. _That's not fair! I'm not awake enough for this!!_ The coffee had done wonders on her fatigue but it was still before 10 am and no amount of caffeine would get Marinette all the way awake before then. 

"Oh, but _Adrien_ you make it so easy!" She booped his nose. 

Adrien practically went crossed eyed. He felt his heart hammering in his chest and didn't know _why_ it was happening. He thought maybe another blush was making its way across his face to match the one that had risen on Marinette's face. He really liked making her blush. 

_Shit._

While all of this was running through Adrien's mind, he had failed to notice the increasing susurrus in the room. But Marinette had noticed. She noticed the first few double takes and the fervent whispers asking whether or not that's who they thought it was. She confirmed all of their suspicions when she had said Adrien's name a little louder than was strictly necessary. When she turned her attention back to Adrien after booping his nose she was a little surprised to see the intense stare the model directed at her. It caused her breath to catch in her throat. And it was definitely going to cause another blush. She was embarrassed at how many times he had made her blush in so short a time but she was a little gratified to see how her touching him so intimately made him react. When their eyes met Adrien had made a soft noise of surprise. They looked at each other in silence for what felt like a much longer time than it was. Adrien's gaze had turned soft and he looked as though he was going to say something. But they were interrupted by a classmate who couldn't take being in such close proximity to _Adrien Agreste_ anymore without saying anything. Marinette smiled.

After the first classmate approached Adrien everyone else in the room couldn't take it anymore. It was like a dam broke and Adrien was drowning in a sea of admiring fans. He realized very quickly that he didn't think this through. He should have known when Marinette had asked him if he was worried about going to her classes. Adrien had been purposefully avoiding this side of campus since he learned there was a fashion and design department. His determination to get answers from Marinette had pushed all of these facts out of his head. Admiring fans were one thing, but these were fashion and design students. Not only were they fans of his work as a model but they were also tenacious in their desire to know everything he knew about the industry. And his father. Everyone knew that alongside his modelling he was being groomed to take over one of the largest fashion empires in the industry. These kinds of fans were particularly hard to shake and he had just walked right into an entire room filled with them. He now understood the predatory gleam in Marinette's eye from earlier. Amongst all the chatter Adrien heard Marinette barely making an effort to contain her giggles. He looked over at her and caught her eye silently pleading for help. And all he got for his efforts was a shrug and a wink. 

_GUH._

Suddenly Adrien was glad for the distraction. Actually no. He was glad for it the second it happened. His brain had ground to a complete halt when she had touched his nose. He knew he was staring at her and he couldn't help himself. He got confused and forgot why he was following Marinette in the first place. He got lost in her big blue eyes. He was mesmerized by the freckles on her face and even caught himself wondering where else she had freckles. _AHH! NO! Don't think about Marinette like that! She's just a friend!_  And she was blushing again and he knew he was about to say something stupid. But then the first student approached him and he was saved from himself. He smiled and answered questions. He flirted a bit and asked questions of his own. Adrien has done this countless times with countless people and this time was no different. Except that this time he had about a million other things on his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still writing the next chapter. I don't know when I'll be done but I'm working on it I promise!


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette was annoyed. For a few glorious minutes she thought she was victorious. Adrien followed her into class. Marinette made sure everyone knew exactly who he was and he got mobbed. She had hoped that this would distract him for at least this class, and hopefully the next one once the word spread. She had also hoped to put him off his game at least a little bit. Make things even for this morning. But noooo! Somehow he had ended up at the front of the classroom holding some kind of impromptu press conference. It was even the professor's idea! _Ok. Well, at least he can't ask me any questions this way, so it's still a win._

Adrien paused whatever it was he was saying when he caught sight of Marinette. 

_Why does she look so smug? DAMN IT._

He had gone completely on autopilot and forgot why he was here. Again! Marinette had managed to throw him off so many times this morning. _Time to turn the tables again._

"Ok, now it's my turn to ask some questions about you!"

Everyone reacted, talking over each other and raising their hands. Adrien made a good show of trying to decide who to ask a question of first. 

"HMMMMM...Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I've got a question for you."

Marinette panicked and she's not sure how but she managed to fling the pen she was holding across the room she jumped so violently.

_He wouldn't!_

It turns out that yes. He absolutely would. _Damn, she's cute._

"Do you have any special talents? Ones that are maybe not common knowledge? Like say, I don't know, knowing any martia-"

"AREN'T WE PICKING SEMESTER PROJECTS TODAY?!"

The professor finally came back to herself and realized that she should probably get class started. With an embarrassed cough she called everyone to order and told Adrien he was welcome to sit in on the class wherever he liked.

Wherever he liked turned out to be right back in Marinette's space again. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered.

"Nice save, princess."

Marinette tried hard to contain the shiver that raced down her spine when she felt his breath on her ear.

"It was a nice try, Agreste." 

The rest of the class passed in a blur. Marinette had a hard time focusing with Adrien pressed up against her side so firmly. Seeing his biceps and _feeling_ them were two very different things. And she was certain that he was purposefully rubbing their legs together. Marinette casually refused to acknowledge that she didn't want him to stop doing it though. 

While Marinette was distracted by biceps, the person attached to said biceps was busy trying to formulate a new plan. Mme. Dupain-Cheng was a formidable opponent and had derailed his plans to ask her for answers during her classes. He'd have to come up with something else. He was absentmindedly rubbing his leg against hers while he checked the schedule Alya had sent him again. _Ok one more class after this and then lunch…..oh that might work._

Unconsciously, Adrien leaned into Marinette with a contented hum as he started to formulate his new and definitely not over the top plan.

When Adrien pressed even more firmly to her side Marinette finally had to give in and look over at him. And just as quickly as she snuck a glance she turned away. She felt another stupid blush race up to her cheeks. He was looking at his phone and had the cutest smirk on his face. _Wait! Not cute! Not cute! Suspicious smirk!_ Marinette was too worried about Not thinking that Adrien was cute that she didn't take the time to actually consider that his smirk was, in fact, very suspicious. Finally, and to her immense relief, class was over and she had an excuse to put some space between her and Adrien. She was starting to get lightheaded from the prolonged contact. _Not_ that she was particularly flustered by it one way or another. Nope. She just needed some space. That was all. She jumped up from her seat and was turning to Adrien to say _something, anything_  that might convince him to go home but before she could he was already talking.

"Well Mari, that was fun but I need to go run a few errands! I know, I know. You are devastated at the loss of my company, but fear not my lady! I will return for you at lunch." And then he was grabbing her hand and placing a soft kiss to her fingers.

If she wasn't flustered before from the close proximity she most certainly was flustered now. She didn't even have the energy to be annoyed at yet ANOTHER blush forming on her face. _This is just who I am now. A blushing mess. I accept my fate._

If Adrien hadn't been internally preening at winning yet another blush from Marinette he would have noticed, and given pause, at the look of resignation that passed over her face. But he _was_ internally preening and didn't notice the look so he swept out of the classroom leaving Marinette, newly appointed Blushing Mess, to try and figure out what he could possibly be up to.

\-------------------------------------------

Marinette made it through her next class mostly unscathed and having mostly paid attention. But she did not make any headway on what Adrien was doing while he was away. Maybe he just went home. But he said he would be back for lunch? Was he just bored with sitting in class or was he planning some scheme to get her to talk? She'd thought on this for some time before deciding that it was pointless. She was quickly realizing that there was no understanding Adrien Agreste's brain. The best she could do was be prepared for anything. 

Anything, she discovered an hour later, was a whole lot. And _expensive._ She received a message from Adrien formally requesting her presence at the park across from campus. It was a nice park with a lot of trees and benches and shady spots for students to hang out. And she just so happened to find one Adrien Agreste lounging luxuriously under the biggest tree in the park. 

Adrien was really quite proud of himself. He had decided that if he couldn't get her to tell him through his charms alone that he would need to step up his game. By bribing her. With food. He spent the past hour furiously making arrangements. Having his father's personal chef make a simple picnic lunch. Run home to get a blanket. Get wine his chef recommended. And some chocolate for dessert. And a quick stop at the florist to get a rose for flair. He had looked over his spread one more time before messaging Marinette and very briefly thought that maybe this was a bit too much.

_Nah._

One last final touch and everything would be completely perfect to throw Mme. Marinette Dupain-Cheng off. And so he waited.

Marinette found him artfully spread out on a grey blanket ( _Oh my god is that cashmere?!_ ) with a freaking rose in his teeth.

_He can't be serious._

He absolutely _was_ serious. With altogether too much grace and flair, Adrien got to his feet and swept the rose from his mouth, gesturing broadly at the spread.

"Your lunch, Princess!"

Marinette gaped.

At first glance it would have been easy to assume that this was a rather simple, albeit romantic, picnic lunch. But the closer Marinette looked the more she started to realize that this picnic was anything but simple. First of all, there's the CASHMERE BLANKET. THAT HE PUT. ON THE GROUND. It was grey and she could tell that it was high quality just by looking at it. _And it's on THE GROUND._

Marinette continued to take stock of the spread while screaming internally about the blanket. There was a sleek picnic basket with high quality green leather accents and an expensive looking bamboo charcuterie board with fancy cheeses and meats on it. Then she noticed the silver bucket with a bottle of wine that had a decidedly fancy looking label. Before she could confirm the fanciness of the wine, Adrien spoke up again making Marinette realize just how long she had been standing there staring.

"Cat got your tongue, Mari?" She looked up at him with a start and noticed Adrien's smile slip a little. "I-is this ok?"

This brought Marinette back to Earth.

"What? Yes! This is great. I'm just a little confused about what is happening."

Adrien brightened and grabbed her hand, bringing her to the blanket.

"What's there to be confused about? It's lunch! I hope you're hungry."

Marinette took a seat on the blanket and continued to look in dazed wonder at the lunch that was prepared for her . Adrien produced some cups and began to pour wine for them (she only caught a glimpse of the label but it was a Domaine Leflaive chev-something? It was a lot of words and it looked _expensive_ ). He handed her a cup and she took a sip. It was delicious! Though not that she was very surprised by that fact. I _should just enjoy this lunch while I can._ Because Marinette was certain that Adrien would start with the questions any minute now. 

But, unexpectedly, they had a fairly normal lunch. It was fun! They talked about so much more than Marinette thought they would and Adrien hung on her every word. He even sat patiently through her lecture about what was appropriate for use as a picnic blanket. They always tended to hang out with each other at Alix parties so she knew that they connected well. But sometimes she forgot how well. Why was it that they didn't hang out outside of those parties more often? Or text more when he was out of town for work? She didn't feel this close with anyone other than Alya. Before she knew it they were already starting on dessert. Adrien bought some really expensive chocolate, and while she was uncomfortable at the extravagance, she also knew that chocolate was a special case and she was going to enjoy this.

It was halfway through dessert that Adrien realized that he hadn't asked Marinette about her _skills_ once during their little lunch. He knew that none of this really mattered but it wasn't about getting answers. It was about _the challenge._

How many times had he caught himself smiling dumbly at her while she talked or laughed? While she went on a full 10 minute rant about how you just DON'T put 100% cashmere on the ground? How was it that this girl was so disarming?

Adrien knew he needed to get things back on track before things got any more intimate than they already were. But at this point he didn't know how. He had lost his train of thought again. Marinette was taking another bite of chocolate and her lips were _very_ distracting.

_Wait, what was she saying?_

"You know, Adrien. I'm impressed."

_Gasp!_

"With the lunch? Me too! I'm surprised I was able to pull all this together so quickly."

"No. I meant with your restraint. But the lunch is very impressive too."

Adrien blinked.

"What?"

"I was certain that this was a ploy to get me talking but you haven't asked me a single question about it since I got here."

She was looking at Adrien with an eyebrow raised. At some point, she had retrieved her wine and was reclining in a way that forced his eye to follow the line of her body.

This did not escape Marinette's notice and she found that it was both flattering and very embarrassing. Her brain couldn't decide on how to react. A part of her wanted to curl in on herself and look away from him. Another part wanted to stretch out a little more to keep him looking. What happened was that she got stuck about halfway through both of these responses. She pulled her legs in but didn't sit up straight. She lowered her gaze but didn't look completely away and of course a blush rapidly found its way on her face. All of this put together was enough to give Adrien a blush to rival her own. 

There was a beat of silence where they both shyly looked at each other before Adrien shook himself.

"Uh. What were we talking about?"

Warmth bloomed in Marinette's chest at the thought of _Adrien Agreste_  being flustered by her. Or at least she thought he was. Maybe she was reading too much into it. The momentary flash of confidence faded under anxiety and over thinking. She knew she was staying quiet for far too long but couldn't stop the spiral of self doubt and worry that had begun. 

Her mind ran off on its own replaying every article, every video and instastory, and every Twitter thread he posted or story he told himself about his many...wild exploits. She saw the kind of people Adrien usually, uh, showed interest in and they were definitely not people like Marinette. She didn't judge him for the way he lived his life but she also recognized that they were two very different people with two very different lives. 

She knew that they were just friends but she was letting herself get carried away with all this time spent together. _Maybe if he wasn't so attractive I wouldn't be so confused. Or if he wasn't so sincere. And sweet. And kind. AHHHHH!_

This had been a fun little game but Marinette decided that it was time to put an end to it before she went down a path she had been determined not to go down since the day she had met Adrien.

"You win."

The soft, dazed look Adrien had melted away to confusion at what she had said.

"W-what? Win what?"

Marinette smirked, if a little sadly.

"You win. I'll tell you my not-so-secret secret. What's your schedule like tomorrow? Are you free around 11?"

Adrien was still trying to catch up to the new pace of the conversation.

"Oh! Um, I think so."

"Great! I'm going to text you an address and I want you to meet me there at 10:30. Ok?"

Marinette finished off her wine and stood up. Adrien scrambled to follow her.

"Wh-, um ok. Ok! Yeah, of course. I can do that. Wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to school. I'll see you tomorrow. Wear clothes you can move in. Don't be late! He doesn't appreciate tardiness."

Adrien watched Marinette make her way out of the park with a dumbfounded look.

"Marinette! _Who_ doesn't appreciate tardiness?!"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I was already having a hard time writing this chapter (idk why) and then some bad family shit went down and that set me back even more. But I'm here now and so is chapter 4!!! Hope you liked it! Thanks for the comments and kudos!!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

"This is a dojo."

"Well spotted, Kitty."

Marinette's amusement at Adrien's apparent surprise is undercut with a frisson of doubt. The answer to their little game is so obvious that she is a little worried that Adrien will be disappointed. Kind of an anticlimactic end especially after that luxurious lunch Adrien treated her to the day before.

_ Well, we're here now. Might as well get on with it. _

Adrien felt like an idiot. Why was he so surprised to find that Marinette trained at a dojo? Obviously this was the most likely answer and yet it never once crossed his mind. God this was kind of embarrassing. Did Marinette think he was an idiot too for not guessing? He snuck a glance at her to gauge her reaction.

He got a small shock to find that she was already looking at him and now several emotions flit across her face in quick succession. Apprehension, surprise, embarrassment. She turned quickly away and cleared her throat.

"Welcome to The Guardian, Kung Fu Academy!"

She looked over at him expectantly. 

When he stayed silent for too long she rambled on.

"I know this isn't as exciting as whatever you were expecting but here it is. The academy teaches more styles than just Kung Fu. My uncle is a Master here and since I've already trained in Kung Fu he's been giving me training in Xing Yi Quan. He's a master in both styles but like I said I already trained in Kung Fu. Not with him though. A different relative when I was younger and I lived in my mother's hometown for a while. Practiced some Wushu too and-"

She stopped mid ramble as though she just realized what she was doing and looked to Adrien again. He was a little overwhelmed. She just casually mentioned that she was trained in more than one martial art like it was no big deal and even made it sound like that was boring. Adrien had to force himself to say something.

"Marinette that is amazing. I knew you were talented. I just didn't realize how broad your talents were! You're incredible."

Marinette blushed, a sight that was quickly becoming one of Adrien's favorites, and a small smile fought its way out. 

"W-well, I'm glad you aren't disappointed. C'mon, let's go in and you can meet my uncle."

They walked inside a modest foyer and then further onto the main training floor. Marinette headed straight for a door at the back of the room when she saw that no one was on the floor. 

"The academy isn't open to the public on Wednesdays. He keeps it closed for me because this is the only day that works with my class schedule and I'll still be able to train for my mastery. My family wants me to inherit the Academy and take over when Master Fu retires but that's not what I want. I want to be a designer but I still want to train. I like it, it's just that I don't want this to be my career, you know?"

Marinette is a little flushed and still embarrassed from earlier and she can't seem to stop herself from rambling. But Adrien still looks to be interested in what she is saying. 

"I know  _ exactly _ what you mean, Marinette."

Marinette noticed a flash of something wistful and sad cross Adrien's face, but just as quickly it was gone. Before she could ask him anything about it Master Fu walked out of the door in the back of the room.

"Hello Marinette! And who is your friend?"

"Master! I told you about him coming yesterday. This is Adrien. Adrien, this is my uncle and master, Fu."

Adrien rushed to greet Master Fu appropriately and noticed Marinette's eyebrows raise in surprise. He tried to hide his smirk.  _ You aren't the only one with secrets, princess. _

"Adrien, it is a pleasure to meet you and finally put a face to the name. Marinette speaks quite highly of you. Often." 

"AHHH! Thank you Uncle! Master! ANYWAY WE CAME TO BRAIN! TRAIN! HAHA H A!"

The two men stared at Marinette, one with exasperated amusement and the other with fondness and altogether too soft for someone that is  _ just a friend _ . But Marinette had already spun around making her way to the locker rooms in a bid to out run her embarrassment.

"The locker rooms are this way Adrien! I'm going to get ready and you should as well OKBYEBERIGHTBACK!"

Adrien watched her go with a smile. Then he noticed Master Fu watching him with a shrewd yet serene face.

"If you are wondering where you should change, it's through that door that Marinette just went through."

"Oh! Right, thank you Master."

Adrien hurried to the locker rooms and didn't see Master Fu's shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

 

\---------------------------

 

"So Adrien, I know you've trained in fencing for a long time but have you done anything else?"

"I've done some karate. Trained whenever I could for about 2 years but I've, uh, really slacked off lately." Adrien said this with an embarrassed hand to the back of his head.

Marinette rushed to reassure him, "Oh, that's fine! It's been a while since I've done karate too!"

_ Did she say she practiced karate too? Didn't she...didn't she say she already knew 3 other styles? _

"So, um. I was thinking we could maybe start with...um...are you familiar with push hands?"

Adrien thought for a minute trying to remember if he knew at all what Marinette was talking about. He vaguely remembered something like that from when he started with karate. 

"I think I might be? It's been a while." He nervously ran his hands through his hair.

"Oh! That's ok. I'm sure it'll come back to you quickly once we get started. Just follow my movements for now."

Marinette stepped in closer to Adrien and for a second he forgot what they were doing.

"Ok for now just spread your feet like this and put your hands up like this." Adrien copied Marinette like she asked. She smirked and looked up at Adrien through her lashes. "Good boy."

If Adrien's mouth wasn't already dry he would have choked on his own saliva. Marinette, the heartless woman, kept going like she didn't just give Adrien a heart attack. She put her hands on his.

"Ok, so I'm going to push on you but don't push back. Well, push back a little but let me lead."

"Yeah, I got it."

Slowly, she leaned into Adrien. At first he was a little stiff but eventually he got the hang of it. Marinette had them in a nice rhythm of back and forth, back and forth. Adrien grew more confident and started contributing more but mostly let Marinette lead. She knew better than he did what they were doing and he trusted her. It felt good to let someone else lead. And he knew he could trust Marinette. 

This was really...nice. Maybe it was too nice. Their arms were touching quite a bit and Adrien could feel the strength in Marinette's movements. And it was, uh, making him feel things. He really needed to stop thinking about touching Marinette so much  _ while he was actively touching her  _ because he just knew he would start blushing and he really did not want to make this awkward.

Thankfully for Adrien, Marinette seemed to think they had done enough and backed away. He took a deep breath.  _ Get it together, man. It's just Marinette. Your FRIEND. _

"That was good! I think you remember more than you think you do."

"I have a great teacher." Adrien winked. And to no one's surprise at this point, Marinette blushed. But she also seemed less flustered than she normally did when Adrien caused her to blush.

"Yes, you do. Why don't we go through the forms to really get you back into it. How long has it been since you trained anyway?"

Adrien thought for a moment. It had to be at least 6 months since the last time he was able to indulge in this hobby. And a hobby was all this could be with all his responsibilities and the expectations his father put on him. Like fencing, for example. It's not what he would have chosen for himself and though his father had been the one to insist he learn a "proper" art, Adrien did have to admit that he really enjoyed fencing. And he was good at it too. But still, he had his childhood dream to learn any kind of martial art. When he was old enough and had more freedom to make decisions from his father one of the first things he did was find someone that would be able to come out and give him private lessons and was flexible enough to work with his schedule.

"Um, it's probably been at least 6 months." 

Marinette hummed and nodded as though that made sense to her. And it did, because what Adrien didn't know, and Marinette was loath to admit, she actually kept pretty close tabs on his comings and goings. Adrien has been abroad more than he's been home in the last six months for this newest campaign so it did make sense to Marinette.

"That's ok! Let's start with going through the forms for now. That should get you back into it."

Marinette stood in front of Adrien and she took him through the forms. 

This most recent gap in training was longer than any of the others Adrien had had before and he was a little worried that he would completely be on his back foot. He tried to run through forms whenever he could while on the road but that wasn't the same as a real training session with his master. But he was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which he fell back into it. He followed Marinette and his muscle memory didn't completely fail him. They ran through forms for about 30 minutes before Marinette stopped.

"Let's get some water and then I was wondering…"

She tapered off with an embarrassed air. 

"Wondering what, Mari?" Adrien tried to look encouraging. He hated making Marinette uncomfortable and hated that he ever inspired that feeling in her.

"Well…do you want to spar? I know it's been a while but you seem to still be in pretty good shape and I don't know I just thought that maybe it would be fun-"

"I think it'd be fun!"

"No, I know it's a stupid idea- wait, you want to?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

Adrien looked way too excited at the prospect of sparring with Marinette. But he also looked really cute. 

"Ok! Well let's take a breather and get some water and then I can kick your ass."

"Oh hooo!!! Big words, Dupain-Cheng. Though I guess I know from experience that you can back it up. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment." He said with a wink. Now it was Marinette's turn to have a heart attack. And clearly the only way to survive this was to Kick. His. Ass.

They took their break and before long were facing each other on the mat.

"Ok Adrien. You ready?"

"As much as I can be, Princess."

There was a pause. For a moment they were both just smiling. Smiling and looking at each other. Adrien, for one, looked way too excited about what he must know was going to be a beating. And Marinette was maybe too excited about delivering the beating. 

The moment went on. But before it got too out of hand Marinette struck. Adrien couldn't believe how fast she was. He was proud of himself for not completely losing his footing to her but he  _ was _ losing ground and fast. It took every ounce of his concentration to block every punch and kick Marinette aimed at him. It didn't help that his concentration was split between keeping up and the look on her face. She was mesmerizing. Her movements were so strong and precise. He shook himself internally.  _ Ok, get your head in the game. You can't let her push you all the way up against the wall. Though that has its own appeal…. _

Adrien waited for an opening to turn the tide of this fight. She aimed a jab at his chest and instead of dodging, he took the hit and blocked as much of it as he could. He grit his teeth and tried not to focus too hard on the spark of surprise in her beautiful blue eyes so he could launch his own attack. Her surprise afforded him with enough of an opening to start pushing her back. She was reeling but only for a second. In the back of Adrien's mind he registered for just a second the moment Marinette reigned in her emotions. Her eyes took on a steel quality that almost threw Adrien's concentration in their intensity. Back and forth they went for what felt like forever. Marinette was amazed at how easily Adrien slipped back into this especially if he had been without practice for 6 months. Although she shouldn't have been surprised. Adrien was renowned for acuity in most things. But she could also tell that she still had the upper hand in this instance. That was satisfying but she also wasn't ready for this to end. She wanted to see just how far he could go, he was improving every minute, and to be frank this was a lot of fun. They were well matched and this felt more like dancing than it did sparring. And Marinette could see that Adrien knew he was out matched but that he didn't care. He was having just as much fun as she was. And that made her heart race in a way that had nothing to do with all the cardio. Marinette,not usually so unfocused, somehow lost track in the fight. And all too quick, Adrien showed Marinette exactly what she wanted to see. How far he could go.

He parried a punch she aimed at him and faster than anything else she had seen him do thus far parried her. This threw her off balance and next thing she knew Adrien had her on the ropes. The longer the fight went on the more Adrien's speed and confidence grew. Then Marinette really lost track of the fight. It was like he was a completely different person. His movements were graceful and quick. And unpredictable. Marinette was too disciplined to let frustration get the best of her. Or so she'd like to think. It clouded her mind and she continued to take hits and be pushed back. She was quick though. Nothing landed the way it was supposed to for Adrien. But that wasn't good enough for Marinette. For a second Marinette really thought she might come out the loser in this bout and then she saw it. An opening. Adrien had gotten just a little too confident and that left Marinette the opportunity to turn things back in her favor. She attacked. Faster than anyone Adrien had ever sparred with. She looked...hungry, and joyful, and strong. Before Adrien knew it Marinette had him on his back. The wind was knocked out of him and it was the greatest thing Adrien had ever felt. Until he saw Marinette leaning over him. A smile lighting up her face and sweat running down her neck. 

"I think I win, Agreste."

Adrien huffed a laugh and did his best to catch his breath. He suspected it wasn't just the sparring that took it out of him in that moment but he wasn't going to look into that right now. For now he was just going to look at her. Which was turning out to be a bad idea. Adrien was on his back with Marinette looming over him, both of them with their breath coming too quick. The both of them sweaty and flushed. Adrien's mind was very quick to supply...other situations that would get the 2 of them into a similar state. His mind was also very quick to lock down such thoughts. 

_ Nothing to see here. She's just hot. I MEAN WE ARE BOTH SO HOT. FROM THE FIGHTING. HAHA, THIS IS FINE. _

Marinette offered her hand to help Adrien up. He looked on it dumbly for a moment before taking it and was very surprised when Marinette easily lifted him off the ground. This brought them quite closer than Adrien was ready for. He jumped back too quickly for Marinette not to notice. She cleared her throat and hopefully the embarrassed tension that had spring up.

"Uh well. That was fun! We should do it again. I mean! Only if you want to…" She trailed off.

"No! I mean yes! It was a lot of fun but maybe next time we could try fencing. What do you think?"

Marinette's face lit up. Adrien smiled softly at her.

"I'd love that!"

Things quickly went off into awkward silence territory yet again. Not knowing what else to do Marinette meant to tell Adrien about the showers but what happened instead was,

"We're sweaty!"

More silence.

_ Oh God, brain WHY. Finish the thought damn you! _

_ " _ I mean! We're, uh, all sweaty and that there are  _ showers  _ here you can use if you'd like. Unless you have to get going or something, whatever you want to do is totally fine!"

"A shower would be great!"

"Great! They're this way!"

Marinette wanted to slap herself.  _ Why can't we stop saying great??? _

They made their way to the showers in silence. The locker rooms, it turned out, was one large space split in half by a divider wall that fell short of the ceiling by about a foot. This included the showers and meant that Adrien could  _ hear _ Marinette on the other side of the wall taking a shower. Adrien, apparently determined to be a pervert today, resolved to take the fastest shower of his life.

 

\----------------------------------

 

Adrien had finished his shower in record time and then attempted to get out of the locker room just as fast. But no. The universe was out to get him. As if things weren't confusing enough as it is. Adrien was already struggling with how much he liked sparring with Marinette,  _ really  _ liked it, and then how much he's enjoyed spending all this extra time with her, and now he just has to go and see her coming out of the showers? Isn't he suffering enough already?!

_ Ok calm down. It's not that exciting. You see women in various stages of undress all the time. What's so different about seeing Marinette in a towel??? _

_ …Still damp from the shower Marinette. SO much leg that was previously all over hi- _

_ Nope. Better stop that line of thinking right now. _

Adrien felt like his head was spinning. How did things get so far out of hand so fast?? One minute it was drunk shenanigans and misunderstandings and next it was meticulously planning out excuses to hang out with Mari as much as possible. 

_ Wait. Excuses?  _

Adrien's breath quickened with the realization. He had convinced himself this was just a silly game. A game he would have played with any of his friends if this had happened with any of them but here he is now thinking of everything as excuses to get closer to Mari. 

_ Oh crap. Crap! _

He's not sure why he's panicking.

_ Am I panicking? This feels like panicking. _

So...what? Does he have a thing for Marinette now? No. Impossible. She's just a friend. A good friend. A beautiful friend. He caught himself turning to take another peek during that thought and felt thoroughly ashamed.

_ No! Mari deserves better than ogling! _

Alright, so what if he's attracted to her? Again, Adrien is around beautiful women daily. That doesn't mean he has feelings for any of them.

_ But. _

But then...would he have gone this far for any of them?

_ No...no I don't think I would. _

Adrien was on the cusp of admitting something to himself that he had thought he had kept firmly under wraps when he saw Master Fu across the room.

He froze. He'd completely forgotten that they weren't alone. Master Fu was staring right at him with a shrewd expression. Did he know what Adrien had just seen? Or could he see the internal struggle Adrien was currently having? Before Adrien could ascertain which it was Master Fu gave the barest hint of a smirk before turning to leave.

That was all Adrien needed to send his barely contained panic into overdrive. Whatever revelations he was about to make were lost to it. Adrien needed to get away and needed to get away  _ now.  _

He ran for his bag and bolted for the exit. He'd make his apologies to Marinette later. For now, he had some feelings to run away from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. I had to duel my brain to get this chapter out but here it is. Thank you so much to everyone who is sticking around and everyone who is only just getting here! The comments and kudos get me so hype so thank you for leaving them!! Hope you enjoy.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, this is my first fic. Hope you like it.


End file.
